There are amazing destinations in the world to ice climb. In 2007, we were asked to join an expedition to Antarctica to run ice climbing tours for intrepid travellers. That was the same year we had our first child so that didn’t materialize. Although it may have been fun to have a baby while navigating the most treacherous water crossing in the world through a hurricane (will have to tell that story another time).Let’s just say the Drake’s passage crossing has made me decide never to take a cruise again. Ever.

Back to ice climbing. There are some great places to climb in Ontario such as Thunder Bay, Lake Superior, Muskoka, Huntsville but usually the drive makes it less desirable as a day trip. Most people have no idea that they can ice climb less than one hour from Toronto! One of the main locations, Tiffany Falls in Hamilton, has a spectacular horseshoe shaped waterfall where the ice is thick and peaks at 80-ft high. This is a great destination for large groups and the Alpine Club climbs there on Sundays while ONE AXE Pursuits has exclusive rights on Saturdays. At this time, general public is not allowed to climb without us but we are all working on changing that so that the public can have access too. At this point, you have to be with us or with the ACC to climb there. Unfortunately, for the last couple years, Tiffany Falls hasn’t formed well due to the warm temperatures.

Enter new favourite location: Elora (1.5 hours from Toronto). The ice climbs in Elora usually form later in the season and for those who have climbed Scary Pillar, you know that the natural forming climbs are not really beginner routes and can easily pump you out because they are so steep. After a year of Tiffany Falls having insufficient ice and a lot of disappointed clients, we decided to take matters into our own hands. With permission from the township, we procured the equipment to pump the river water up to the top of a section of cliff. This allows us to create our own ice climbs so that we can offer courses earlier in the season.

Ice farming has made me appreciate all the farmers who are slaves to the weather. During ice climbing season, I think I check the weather five times per day on average. We scour weather apps for predictions for nights with ideal ice building conditions. We stay up all night and watch the ice drip, redirecting the water constantly to create the best ice. This is serious business. After about 40 hours of building ice in ideal temperatures we will have four ice climbs ready. Ice climbers are welcome top rope climb (with their own equipment) on our ice when we are not using it to run courses or running water to build or repair the ice. Climbers are welcome to contact us to find out more about this option. Looking forward to this 2018 season.